I have one last shot about privies.  In the excavation I mentioned
in an earlier post, we not only found the transition from privy to
outdoor toilet (and, apparently, to indoor toilet since the old
commode was still on the top of the privy), we also found an
interesting cache of bottles.
        Most of the glass artifacts were what you might expect--some broken,
some complete and a variety of dates.  But above the usual artifact
deposition and below the commode were 23 one-pint, seven half-pint,
and one quart neatly stacked liquor containers.  All were
pre-Prohibition bottles (missing the federal warning labels and many
datable by manufacturer's marks and/or bottlers' identificaiton) and
were colorless.  They were apparently hidden beneath the outdoor
toilet during prohibition (or to hide drinking from the family).
        This brings up some interesting speculation.  Did the imbiber drink
up as much as possible prior to Prohibition, then use the top of the
privy for disposal of the empties before the installation of the
toilet?  Or was it disposal of bootlegged liquor where open trash
deposition would have been incrimating?  Or could it have been a
hidden cache for later retrieval?  If the latter was the case, why
did he (or she) never return for the stash?
        I know from my years as a farmer in West Virginia that it was
still common in the 1960s for men to take their liquor to the barn or
outhouse because the women of the family would not allow drinking in
the house.  I wonder if other "contraband" items were stored or
disposed of in privies?

Bill


Bill Lockhart
New Mexico State University
Alamogordo, NM
(505) 439-3732